XV MY FRIEND, THE POLICEMAN
XVI HELP WANTED--MALE, FEMALE
XVII HUMAN MUNICIPAL DOCUMENTS
XVIII AS TO PEOPLE
XIX HUMOURS OF THE BOOK SHOP
XX THE DECEASED
XXI A TOWN CONSTITUTIONAL
XXII READING AFTER THIRTY

EPILOGUE: ON WEARING A HAT




WALKING-STICK PAPERS

PROLOGUE

ON CARRYING A CANE

Some people, without doubt, are born with a deep instinct for carrying
a cane; some consciously acquire the habit of carrying a cane; and some
find themselves in a position where the matter of carrying a cane is
thrust upon them.

Canes are carried in all parts of the world, and have been carried--or
that which was the forefather of them has been carried--since human
history began. Indeed, a very fair account of mankind might be made by
writing the story, of its canes. And nothing that would readily occur
to mind would more eloquently express a civilisation than its evident